Customer Insight, Online Survey, Research

7 Signs That It’s Time To Find a New Online Survey Company

When it’s time to send out a marketing research survey or just a company questionnaire, you have a lot of options. Of course, sometimes the most obvious solution may not be the best solution, and sometimes the biggest online survey company isn’t the right online survey company for your needs. 

Whether you’re looking for a survey company for the first time, or are already working with one but aren’t feeling valued, we’re here to help. To ensure you make the right choice, we’ve identified seven red flags that may signal it’s time to make a switch!

7 Signs That It’s Time to Change Survey Providers

So what are the red flags to look out for when deciding whether to switch to a different online survey research company? Here are seven signs to keep an eye out for.

Lack of Support

Today, customer experience is king, and a good online survey company understands this.  Check out these facts from Forbes:

  • Companies that lead in customer experience outperform others by nearly 80%.
  • 84% of companies that work to improve their customer experience report an increase in their revenue.
  • 73% of companies with above-average customer experience perform better financially than their competitors.

This data highlights how important it is for survey companies to provide superior support. If your survey company isn’t paying enough attention to your needs, it may be time to look for another company that offers online tutorials, live chat, email, and/or phone support. As a customer, you should always feel valued!

Cost Increases / Lack of Pricing Options

Are you paying too much and getting too little? Costs of using a marketing survey company will likely increase over time, however, you should always feel like you’re still getting value for your money. You may also want to choose a survey company that offers different survey packages tailored to your needs. After all, if you’re only sending out a few surveys per month, why should you be paying the same amount as the business sending out hundreds? Or, if you don’t need in-depth analytics, why should you spend as much as those companies that do? Your online survey company should offer different pricing levels so that you’re getting what you need – not paying for what someone else needs.

Lack of Security

In just the first half of 2020, data breaches exposed 36 billion private records. That means that security is more important than ever, and a good online survey company understands this and takes privacy concerns seriously. After all, if your surveys lack proper security measures, people are unlikely to take them!

According to Pew Research, many people have low levels of trust in sectors associated with data collection and monitoring, and many have exceedingly low levels of confidence in the privacy and security of the records that are maintained by a variety of institutions in the digital age. So, be sure that the online survey company you choose or switch to has strong encryption capabilities that protect all categories of data from theft and damage. This includes sensitive data, personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), personal information, intellectual property, data, and governmental and industry information systems.

Lack of Templates / Survey Variety

When sending your surveys, you don’t want to be tied down to one style or one type of questioning. It’s important to select an online survey company that understands that one size does not fit all! There should be a variety of templates that suit your needs, whether they need to present professionalism, a sense of fun, and more.

It’s also a best practice to mix up the type of questions you ask on a survey. So, you’ll also want to be sure the survey company offers a variety of survey questions: multiple choice, sliding scales, thumbs up/down, Likert-style questions, open-ended questions, scrolling bars, etc. 

Lack of Analytics / Data Sharing

The point of sending out a survey is to get results, right? So, you want to be sure the survey company you choose offers quality analytics. And not just a raw data dump, but data analysis in the form of different types of charts, word clouds, NPS data, respondent demographics, IP addresses, and more. 

It may also be important for you to easily share data, so choose a survey company that allows you to easily export data via different formats (Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Doc, PDF, etc). The best online survey companies will also allow you to share these reports using a public or private link.

Multilingual Abilities

About 75% of the world’s population does not speak English, and today, everyone’s going global. That means that many companies want their surveys to have an international appeal and reach. If you’re targeting multiple countries, you’ll want to choose a survey company that can easily translate your survey questions into the language of your choice. Learn more about creating multilingual surveys here.

Mobile Responsiveness

Mobile browsing has overtaken traditional computer browsing, making it crucial that your online survey is responsible. Unfortunately, some online surveys are not optimized correctly for the mobile world, thus leading to a frustrating user experience. “This should be a wake-up call [for] professionals to make sure that their websites are mobile-friendly,” says Aodhan Cullen, chief executive of StatCounter. “Mobile compatibility is increasingly important not just because of growing traffic but because Google favors mobile-friendly websites for its mobile search results.”

To ensure you get good results with your surveys, choose a company that offers responsive design. With responsive design, your surveys will render, or display, on any device or screen, regardless of size. To account for the size of the screen, elements on the page will automatically rearrange themselves, shrink, or expand as necessary. The intuitive nature of responsive design demonstrates how important it is for websites to respond to their environment.

Choosing SurveyLegend for Your Online Survey Needs

Are you seeing some of these red flags with your current online survey company? Then consider becoming a legend! SurveyLegend is an online survey tool that checks all the boxes when it comes to offering the best surveys. We offer:

  • Different levels of support based on your needs.
  • Four different pricing plans (Free, Pro, Business, and Legendary).
  • Top-notch security, with strong encryption (TLS) and GDPR compliance.
  • A variety of beautifully designed survey templates and question types.
  • Robust data analytics, in real-time, with shareable automatically-generated reports.
  • Surveys that support multiple languages to reach a wider audience.
  • Mobile-responsiveness; users can take your survey anytime, anywhere!

Learn more about SurveyLegend’s features here, or just sign up now – it’s free to get started!

What features do you look for in an online survey company? Do you need some online survey company help? If so, let us know how we’re doing in the comments!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are some types of questions to ask on a survey?

Popular types of survey questions include multiple choice, sliding scales, thumbs up/down, Likert-style questions, open-ended questions, and scrolling bars, or matrixes.

What is a responsive survey?

Responsive surveys display on any device or screen, regardless of size, by automatically rearranging the elements to shrink or expand as necessary, providing a great user experience.

What type of pricing plans does SurveyLegend offer?

SurveyLegend has four pricing plans to accommodate everyone’s needs: Starter (free forever), Pro ($15/mo), Business ($25/mo), and Legendary ($65/mo).

Which company is the best for online survey-based research?

This will depend on the needs of your organization and the type of survey you’re sending. So, it’s best to shop around to be sure you make the most informed choice.

About the Author
Born entrepreneur, passionate leader, motivator, great love for UI & UX design, strong believer in "less is more”. Big advocate of bootstrapping. BS in Logistics Service Management. I don't create company environments, I create family and team environments.